UNI-SQUARE
What I Wanted to Tell Myself When I Was a New Graduate
March is a time of revival and the beginning of spring. In Japan, students graduate from schools in March, so it is considered to be a “time of departure”. New college graduates start lives as working persons. We became who we are today as a result of countless experiences and the challenges that we have faced. When we see our graduation picture, we cannot help but think “How young I was!”. Looking at our face in the mirror, we try to find that self who was so young and innocent. Many experiences and many people whom we met made us who we are today. Wrinkles on our face show how far we have come (laugh).
For most of us, UNIVA CAPITAL Group company is not the first company that we worked for after graduating from college, but each year, we welcome a few new graduates in the group. Next month, four new graduates will start working for UNIVA Paycast and become our “NAKAMA”. What if you could give yourself a piece of advice? In this issue, we asked eight people, “If you could, what would you tell yourself as a new graduate?”.
Katsuhiro Mizuno
President & Representative Director
CSS Holdings Ltd.
I started working in 1985, 37 years ago in the year 60 of the Showa Dynasty. Back then, not only PCs and smartphones, but also simple mobiles phones were not available. “Corporate compliance” was not a commonly known concept. A large pharmaceutical company was broadcasting a TV ad where a “salaryman” was challenging the audience, “Can you keep going 24/7?” with combative music in the background. It was a different era. I was working as hard as I could, but my sales results were not good, especially when I began my career. It was difficult. But with hindsight, because I felt much frustration and embarrassment with my work back then, I could be keenly aware of my lack of skills and maturity as a professional. That awareness shaped my career and made me the professional I am today. I got married, became a father and assumed management positions in my 20s. What I wanted to tell myself then is, “Who you meet and what you do at the beginning of your career is extremely important, not only for your career but also for your life. Know how important it is, and know that time is limited.”
Shigefumi Mukai
Director & CMO
UNIVA Gyro-n Ltd.
I was a new graduate in 1998, over twenty years ago. I was an art student and was pretty relaxed about job hunting. After I graduated, I got a job at kimono maker’s design department where I was fortunate enough to experience a variety of jobs including design and sales. Back then, computers were not widely used in offices in general, and that was also true of designing. But I thought computer skills might be essential in the future, so I learned it on my own. The skills proved to be very useful in my career later on. I realize now that you have no idea when you encounter a type of work or people that you like. Therefore, it is important to be open to all possibilities and to prepare to seize the opportunity when it arises. There are many things that I would say to myself as a new graduate, especially the four things below:
- Save money regularly even if it is a small amount
- Be open to new ideas and opportunities
- Learn about the areas that you are interested in, even if you only have casual interest
- Cherish and value your parents and friends
Hiroaki Hayashi
Director
UNIVA Health Limited
Naturally Plus Hong Kong Limited
It was on April 1st, 1991 that I attended the company’s initiation ceremony at Nippon Budokan, one of the largest auditoriums in Japan as a new graduate. The night before the ceremony, I partied hard with my friends. We drank and danced all night. I did not have time to return home, so I went to my friend’s house, borrowed his suits and attended the ceremony with a hangover. My career began with awful and immature behavior. Throughout my career, I witnessed historical crises, the Gulf War in 1991, the terrorism in the U.S. on September 11th in 2001, the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake in 2011 and the COVID-19 pandemic where over 200 million people worldwide were infected as of 2021. During the past thirty years, I met many people whom I trust and respect, managers, colleagues, customers and friends. Those people and my interactions with them helped me work, live and grow. I have nothing but gratitude for those people. When a crisis or slump hits you, it is often a time that you are also faced with an opportunity. Even if you made a mistake, you can turn it into an opportunity. Don’t forget that turning challenges into opportunities will lead to success. “There are hidden opportunities in developments that seem to threaten a business or an industry. – Peter Drucker”. Let’s not fear mistakes and keep taking on new challenges!
Hironobu Kunitoh
General Manager of Marketing
UNIVA Paycast Limited
My generation is considered the “lost generation” or to have experienced “the ice age” of employment. Many young people did not feel optimistic about their career and future. Perhaps because of that, I was not thinking about my future very seriously. In fact, I have never done official job hunting. UNIVA Paycast is my fourth company. Since I started working as a new graduate in 2000, my friends have introduced me new positions every two to three years, and I changed my employment without going through an official selection process. All of my former employers were startup venture businesses. I was given opportunities to take on important roles such as representative director in my 20s. Because I had more responsibility than people of my age would typically have, I feel that I acquired different skills from those that one would acquire working for a large corporation at that age. I am feeling now that those skills are helping me. I had dealt with unnecessary hardships that one would not have to experience if he/she is working for a large corporation. But even those hardships were valuable experiences. When you are a new graduate, having a clear vision on your career is difficult. But if you work hard and you are sincere about contributing, someone will notice and appreciate it. And when you need help, those people will help you. If your assignment is not exactly what you wished for, don’t be bitter. Be positive and try to find interesting things in it. If you have good attitude, you will see an open path.
Manabu Haba
General Manager
UNIVA Marketing Limited
I wanted to tell myself, “Make more NAKAMA!”. I was a new graduate in 1997. I worked as a space engineer for five years in a large corporation. People were talking about “networking” back then too, but I did not like the idea of making friends for their usefulness. My circle of friends was small, even though I was in great environment to make many friends. I changed my job, and when I was working in the area of business development, I received help from many people within and outside of the company (and sometime I helped them.) I have gradually learned the importance of NAKAMA. Many of my colleagues became my friends with whom I spend my private time. Although I was not proactive about making friends, my colleagues from previous company still invite and welcome me when they get together. Today, I have a strong awareness that NAKAMA are our most precious asset.
Haifeng Hong
Manager, Market Development Team
UNIVA Marketing Limited
This is my eleventh year as a working person. When I look back the past ten years, I want to tell myself, “Don’t be afraid of making mistakes”. When I started working, I thought it was embarrassing and uncool to make mistakes. Most of the time, I completed my work following manuals or conventions, so I could avoid making mistakes. But now I learned there is no “mistake” in life. We can learn from mistakes and use the experience in the future. From that perspective, “mistakes” are wonderful “experiences” and “sources of growth”. We need to realize that the biggest risk is “to do nothing” and “not to try”. We should keep challenging ourselves for our personal and professional growth. When we try our best every day, the accumulated effort will bring us a significant result. Chairman Inaba often talks about “co-creation”. I want to provide strong support to my NAKAMA and co-create UNIVA with them.
Yumiko Ikari
Sub Manager, Corporate Communication Department
Naturally Plus Co., Ltd.
“Be positive. Proactively reframe your mind.” When we start working, we realize that we need to work with other people who have different ideas or find themselves in different situations. When I graduated from university, my dream job was “ to help people improve their health”, and I got a job at a major pharmacy chain as a certified nutritionist. In pharmacy, we work with other employees including pharmacists and administrators, and all of us were supposed to work together so the pharmacy operates smoothly. I was excited about helping people who wanted to become healthy. However, what was waiting for me was the challenge of “workplace culture”. At the pharmacy to which I was assigned, people who were already working there dumped their work on the freshmen even though it was their responsibility. First, I was puzzled, and then I felt it was unfair that we had to do the work of people who were slacking off. The toxic workplace culture harmed the mental health of some of the employees; some people left the company. I had two choices then. “Should I keep accumulating frustration and leave the company when I cannot take it any longer?” or “Should I tell myself, ‘You cannot change people. Be positive. Reframe your mind and do your best.’”. I chose the latter. I persevered, thinking, “This will become my wisdom.” I believe this experience helped my career. I am thankful that I am still working to help people improving their health. I want to tell myself, “Your decision back then was right. Keep going!”
Mai Tomizato
Marketing Department
UNIVA Paycast Limited
It has been almost three years, since I joined UNIVA Paycast. What learned is the importance of “taking action”. As I kept “taking actions”, my career evolved. In my second year, I joined a data application project team in addition to my regular work in sales. I had some concerns, but decided to focus on the work and tasks in front of me. This experience led me to a significant change. This January, I was transferred to Marketing Department, and the data application project became my main work. I would have feared such a change, and would have been reluctant to be transferred to another department. But now, I welcome changes and am tackling new challenges with my NAKAMA of UNIVA Paycast. The advice that I wanted to give myself is, “Don’t fear, take action.”
※ Thank you, Mr. Mizuno, Mr. Mukai, Mr. Hayashi, Mr. Kunitoh, Mr. Haba, Mr. Hong, Ms. Ikari and Ms. Tomizato!
Do you second some of the comments of the eight people who shared their stores? Please comment and share your “What I wanted to tell myself when I was a new graduate”.